Breech-loading ordnance



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 SEABURY. BBB-EOE LOADING ORDNANOE.

No. 448269. Patented Mar. 17, 1891 Ina/972%).

(Nd Model.) s Sheets-Sheet 2,

S. SEABURY.

BREEGH LOADING ORDNANGE'.

No. 448,269. Patented Mar. 17, 1891' 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

S.SEABURY. BREECH LOADING ORDNANGE.

' No 448,269, Patented Mar. 17, 1891.

5 Sheets--Sheet 4.

(N0 M del.)

S. SEABURY,

. BREEOH LOADING ORDNANOE. No. 448,269. Patented Mar. 17. 1891.

(No Model.)

I S. SEABURY.

BREEOH LOADING ORDNANGE. NO. 448,269'. .Patentd Mar. 17, 1891.

5 SheetsSheet 5.

UNITED STATES SAMUELSEABURY, F BERGEN POINT, NEW

BREECH LOADl SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Application filed March 16, 1889.

' ence being bad to the accompanying drawings.

I This invention relates to breech-loading cannon in which a serewbreech-blook is employed in a swinging carrier hinged to one side of the breech of the gun.

' The invention consists in the combinations hereinafter described and claimed,.whereby such a breech-block is automaticallynnlocked, withdrawn, and moved laterally away. from the breeehof the gun and held awa from the breech-opening for loading, and whereby after the loading the said block is automatically returned to the breech-openiu g, inserted therein, and locked in position for firing.

The invention furtherconsists in certain mechanism, hereinafter described and 1 claimed, whereby the recoil movement of the gun is caused to produce, first, the unscrewing movement of the breech-block in the breech of the gun, and afterward the backward and on tward movement of the carrier and breechblock to open the breech, and .the forward movement of the gun to the'firing-position is caused to produce, first the inward and forward movement of the carrier and the breechblock, and afterward the screwing up of the breech-block. v

The invention also consists in certain im provements, hereinafter described and claimed, in the lock of a breech-loading cannon of the kind hereinbefore mentioned,

1 whereby the cocking may be effected either by the act of opening-the breech or by hand,

' and safety against accidental firing is assured.

Figure lsis a side view of' the rear portion of a breech-loading cannon and of portions of its carriage, illustrating my invention. Fig. Fig. 3 is a front view of the bi'eech-block. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the breech of the gun with the breechblock and carrier in an open position. Fig. 5 is a horizontal, sectional view, on a larger- PATENT @rrrca.

JERSEY.

no; ORDNANCE.

Patent No. 448,269, dated March 17,1891.

Serial No. 303,598. (No model.)

scale than the preceding figures, of the breech portion of the cannon, the breech-block and its carrier, and the lock. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the trigger. Fig. 7 repro sents one of the details of the breech-operating mechanism, which will be hereinafter fully described. Fig. 8 represents a horizontal section of the breech-block and part of partly in section, on a larger scale than Fig. 5, showing the firing-pin cocked. Fig. 9 is a rear view corresponding with Fig. 8. In the two last-mentioned fi ures all parts not necessary to illustrate the firing mechanism are omitted.

Similar letters and figures of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

C O designate the lower or training member of a gun-carriage, consisting of acylinder O, intended to turn upon a pivot, (not showh in the drawings,), and a able 0', which conwhich are constructed parallel ways 9 for the support of the upper member E of the carriage, which contains the bearings for the trunnions f of the-gun V,.the said upper member E being capable of gunning to and fro on the said ways .to permit the recoil of the gun tion. The ways 9 are represented as constructed on two horizontal hydraulic cylintable 0, and which contain pistons which are connected by rods G with the upper member E of the carriage for the purpose of producing the necessary resistance to the recoil of the gun. This construction of the carriage constitutes no part of the present invention; but it serves as well as any other construction to illustrate my invention, which is applicable with all kinds of gun-carriages in which an upper member or carriage runs .hack and forth upon alower member or car'- riage. I r I N l? designates the breech-block carrier by an upright hinge u u to one side of the firmly secured to the said frame. The stem P has at its front end a nose-; Lite 20., and it stitu'tes the head of said cylinder, and upon consisting of a frame N, which is attached its carrier and aplau of the firing mechanism,

and its forward movement to the firing posi- I ders D, which are firmly secured upon the" gun close to the breech thereof. and a stem 1,

rco

I is' secured in the frame N by a screw-thread on its rear portion and a nut 21,-which clamps it to the said frame. The relation between the breech-carrier and the bore of the gun is such that the stem P may occupy a position concentric with the bore of the gun,as shown in Fig. 5.

Q designates the breech-block, which is screw-threaded externally to fit into an intern-ally-screw-threaded seat provided for it in the rear of the bore of the gun. In the example r'wresented the screw-threads 22 23 of the breech-block and the corresponding threads ofl t-heinterior of the seat in the gun consist of two sets of different diameters, and the said screw-threads 22 23 and corresponding screw-threads in the seat are mutilated at I alternate intervals to allow the breech-block to pass into the seat without turning and to through the portions u of the hinge which'are formed on the carrier and the portion to of the hinge which is secured by'screws a to the gun in such manner as robe capable of turningin all of them to some extent, and it is furnished below the hinge with an arm to and below the said arm with a spur-gear a the said spur-gear gearing with a horizontal rack 42, to be presently described, for the purpose of 'priiducing the turning movement of jecting the said pin, by which both the swinging movement of the carrier and the turning movement of the breech-block upon its axis are produced. The arm 11; is connected bya rod u with a swivelifl, whichis pivoted to an arm a which is secured by screws to to the back of the breech-block.

In order to provide for producing the swing ing movement of the carrier by the turning of the spindle a", but to permit a certain amount of movement to the said-spindle and the'attached arm a without producing any movement of the carrier, at key is provided on the said spindle, the said key consisting in the example shown of a short pin or projection it provided on the arm a and prou ward from the said arm into a recess u ee, Figs. 1 and 2) in the bottom of the, lower parta of the hinge, which is constructed on the carrier. The pin or projection u turns with the spindle .10 with a certain amount of lost motion in the recess 10 so that it may produce the opening movement of the carrier by pressing against the forward end of the said recess, butthat a certain amount of movement may be permitted to the arm u for turning the breech-blockin the carrier without moving the carrier.

' The toothed .rack 'v, hereinbefore men tioned, with which the spur-gear a gears, is provided in one side'of a slotted head on the rear end of a bar '0, which works through a guide 11 secured on the outside of the gun and through a friction-sleeve 20, which is provided on a slide w, which is fitted to work upand down freely on an arc-shaped standard 1.0 which is firmly secured to the table 0' of the lower carriage, the arc of the said standard being concentric with the trunnions of the gun when the gun is run forward to the firing position. In the rear of the slide w a tappet-collar w is secured to the rackbar v by a set-screw. The barn, besides being guided in the guide v is guided by the slot '0 in its head, (see Fig. 5,) running on the spindle ta which passes through the said slot and the rack, and is further kept in place by the portion 1) of the head on each side of its slot running on the top face of the gear u".

In order to insure the retention of the breech-block in the carrier in a proper position to re-enter the seat in the breech, I provide a locking device which'locks the breech- '-block to the carrier in such manner as to prevent it from turning, except at the proper time. represented consists of a key 24, formed on the end of a hammer-like piece 25, (see Figs. 2, 4, and 5,) which is pivoted by a pin 26 within a slot in the carrier. This hammer-like piece is constructed with atoe 27, which pro-. jects through the front. of the carrier, as shown in 'Fig. 5, to enter a curved recess 28, provided in one side of the breech-seat in the gun. This toe is pressed upon by a spring 29, secured within the carrier in such manner as to tend to force the point of the 'key 24 forward beyond the inner face of thecarrier and against the outer face of the breechblock. In this outer face there is provided a notch 30, (shown fully in Fig. 2 and dotted in Fig. 5,) which is so sitnated'that when the breechsblock is turned to the position in which it is unlocked from the breech-seat the cam way constituted by the curved face of therecess 28 in the seat to the position shown in Fig. 5, and so withdraws the key 24 and leaves the breech-block free to turn in the seatfor the purpose of locking it. The turning movement of the breech-block in the opposite direction for the purpose of unlocking it brings the notch 30 again opposite to the key 24, and as the carrier and the breech-block swing back together the too 27 of the key is released from the breech-seat and the spring 29, acting on the said toe, throws the key 24 forwar This locking device in the. example IIO key 24 will enter the said notch and so look into the notch, and so causes the breech-block and the carrier to be locked together and to remain locked until the breech-block is again swung into its seat. The key *2; is provided with a thumb-piece 31, resembling the comb of a gun-hammer, for the purpose of enabling the unlocking of the breech-block from the carrier to be performed by hand if inany case it may be necessary. i

The swinging movement of-the carrier to carry the breech-block to and from the breech of the gun and the turning movement of the breech-block in the carrier to screw itup and unscrew it are produced by the movementof the gun'in the following manner: I will first suppose the gun to be in the position for firing, (shown in Fig. 1,) the upper carriage E being in its forward position upon the lower carriage C O. The breech is now closed and screwed up, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, and the tappetrcollar 'w on the rack-bar 'v is stopped against the slide to" on the standard The gun having been fired and its recoil taking place, the spur-gear a moving back with the gun, tends to carry with itthe rack '1); but this tendency is restrained by the friction of the sleeve it), through which the rackbar 0' passes, and the gear in running backward along the rack is caused to turn on its own axis and to cause the spindle U2 to turn with it and so carry the arm w in an outward direction and cause the said arms, by means of the rod of, the swivel u", and the lever-arm u to turn the breech-block in the direction of the arrow shown upon it in Fig. 2, and so unscrew it far enough to bring its threads opposite the mutilations of the threads of the breech-seat in the gun,land thus permit the breech-block to be withdrawn from the seat. When the breech-block has been thus far turned, the pin or projection 14 of the arm n strikes the forward end of the recess u in the lower portion in of the hinge of the carrier. As the pinion and the arm a continue to turn the key or projection 10 pressing against the said end of the recess u causes the carrier. and the breech-block to swing outward to open the breech, the carrier and the breech-block being then looked together in the manner hereinbefore described by the key 24. After the loading of the gun and as it is run forward the spur-gear M5, the rack 'L, and the rack-bar o are at first held stationary by the friction of the sleeve w on the rack-bar, and the spur-gear running forward along the rack causes the spindle tobe turned, and the arm 11, moving with it and acting through the rod u, the swivel u", and

the arm a on the breech-block causes the breech-block and the carrier to move together toward the closing position, bringing the breecheblock into its seatwith its threads opposite the mutilations of the threads of the seat. The-movement of the carrier is thus stopped, and during the continued forward movement of the gun thesleeve w slides along the rack-bar. -If th* breech should unlocked from the carrier by the action oi" the toe-piece 27, hereinbefore described, during the continued forward movementof the gun, the spur-gear continues to be turned by running in the rack, and thns the key or projcction it moves within the recess n in tho hingeof thecarrier, and the continued movement of the arm it, with the spindle 11. acting through the rod u, the swivel 11, and the lever-arm u on the breech-block, turns the breech-block in an opposite direction to the arrow shown in Fig. 2 and screws up the breech. In the upward and downward movement of the gun for giving it a proper elevation the slide 20 moves up and down freely on the standard 10 and therefore no tendency is produced to move the slide it" upon the rack-bar v or to move the said bar lengthwise by this movement of the gun.

I will here explain with reference to Fig. 7, which represents a transverse section of the rack-bar and a back view of the slide and friction-sleeve, that the friction between thesleeve and the rack-bar is produced by means r of a set-screw w", screwed in o the sleeve and pressing against a friction-s ddle 20 fitted to the bar within the sleeve. 1 j

I will now describe the lock. R designates the firing-pin, consisting, as shown in Figs. 5 and 9, of two straight portions united by a loop at the rear and forming a fork with two straight prongs. The longer straight-portion or prong passes through the stem P, which is counterbored to receive the coiled mainspring 32, which is compressed between a collar 3-3 on the pin and a nut 34, which caps the outer end of the stem. The collar 33 fits the counter-bore in such a manner as to slide freely therein'and serve as a guide for the longer prong of! the firing-pin, which passes through said collar and counter-bore. Betweenthe collar 33 and the shoulder of the counter-bore there is a spring 35, consisting of a concavo-convek disk, (see Figs. 5 and 9,)

the purpose-of which is to withdraw the point of the pin within the nose-plate 20 after it has been relieved from the momentum given to it by the sudden expansion of the mainspring. The shorter prong of the firing-pin passes outside of the stem P between two lugs'42, (see Figs. 4, 5, 8, and 9,) provided on the outside of the carrier N, which prevents it from turning. The said shorter prong has in its end a notch 36 for the engagement of the stirrup-like sear 38 of the trigger T, (see Figs.

5 and 6,) and has on its outer side a lateral projection 37 to be acted 'upon by a wedgelike cam 39 (see Figs. 1, 8, and 9) on the rear of the breech-block for the purpose of cocking the pin by the turning movement of the breech-block, by which it is unlocked from 4 Mazes of a stirrup-like portion, the cross-bar 38 of angles to the stirrup-like portion 38:

, ed toalways protrude from the rear of thewhich constitutes the sear, an upright stem 40, projecting above and below the stirruplike portion, and a horizontal arm 41, projecting from the bottom of the stem 40 at right The stirrup-like portion embraces the two lugs 42, (see Figs. 4 and 5,) which are formed on one side of the breech-block carrier, and two pins 43, passing one through the upper and the other through the lower portionof the stem 40 and screwed into the lugs 42, serve as the pivots upon which the said trigger works. The arm4l has an eye for the attachment of a lanyard for firing. The other straight portion of the firing-pin passes through the stirrup of the trigger, and the latter is supported above and below the firing-pin very firmly. The sear-spring 44 for the trigger, by which the cooking is effected after the drawing back of the firing-pin, as shown in Fig. 5, is secured to one side of the inner hub of the carrier.

It has been hereinbefore explained how the firing-pin is cocked by the cam as the breechblock is turned for the purpose of unlocking it from its seat. If desired, the cocking can be effiected by hand by taking hold of the loop at the rear of the pin, which is constructcarrier for that purpose. The cam 39, besides serving the purpose of. cocking the firing-pin, also serves as a'safeguardto prevent the firing-pin from striking the primer of the cartridge until the breech-bl0ck is turned to the position to completely lock it, for the pin cannot strike the cartridge while any but the lowestportion of the cam 39 is opposite the projection 37, and the lowest portion of the cam cannot be opposite the projection 37 until the breech-block is fully locked.

In order to provide for producing the movem en ts of the swinging breech-block carrier on its hinge and the turning movement of the breech-block in said carrier by hand, there is represented in Fig. 1 on the lower partof the hinge-pin u? a square adapted to receive a handle, by which the said pin maybe turned in the same manner in which it is turned by the action of its spur-gear 24 and the rack I. When it is to be thus turned, it will be desirable to loosen the friction-sleeve w bynnscrewing the screw w, so that the rack-bar may move freely. Otherwise it would be necessary to provide for throwing either the gear or rack out of gear.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of the gun, the breech- A block, means for looking it in the breech of the gun, means for automatically rotating the breech-block to unlock andlwithdraw itfrom the breech of the gun, means for moving the breech-block laterally away from the breech-.

opening, and devices for. then holding the breech-block away from the breech-opening,-

substantially as herein described;

2. The combination of the'gun, the breechblock, means for locking it in the breech of the gun, .means for automatically rotating the breech-block to unlock and withdrawit from v the breech of the gun, means for moving the breech-[block laterally away from the breechopenirig a stopfor then holding the breechblock away from the breech-opening, and mechanism for automatically returning the breech-block to the breech-opening, inserting it therein, and locking it in position when the stop is released, substantially as herein described.-

Tlie combination, with the gun-carriage and a breech-loading gun thereon, of a hinged swinging breech-block carrier, a gear attached to the hinge of said carrier and. concentric therewith, and a rack attached to a portion ofthe gun-carriage which does not move with the recoil of the gun and engaging with said gear for the purpose of producing the swinging movement of said carrier and thebreechblock for opening and closing the breech by the backward and forward movement of the gun, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified. n

4. The combination, with a gun-carriage and a breech-loading gun thereon having a hinged swinging breech-block carrier, of a spindle passing pivotally through the, hinge of the carrier and a :ey on said spindle engaging with the said carrier, a gear on the 4 ward and forward movement of the gun, substantially as and for the purpose herein spech fied.

5. The combination, with a gun-carriage and a breech-loading gun thereon having a hinged swinging breech-block carrier and a IIO screw breech-block fitted to turn in said carrier, of a spindle passing pivotally through the hinge of the carrier and bearing a gear rigidly attached to said spindle, an arm on said spindle,'a rod connecting said arm with the breech-block, a key on said spindle'engaging the carrier with a lost motion, and a rack attached to a portion of the gun-carriage which does not move with the recoilof the gun and en .ging with said gear for the purpose of producing both the swinging movement of the carrier and the turning movement of the breech-block in the carrier by the backward and forward movement of the gun, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

(3. The combination, with a breech-loading gun having a hinged swinging"breech-block carrier, and a carriage for said gun, consisting of a lower training carriage orinember and I an upper carriage or member on which the gun is directly mounted by its trunnions, and

which is capable of moving back and forth" on the lower carriage or member-in a direction lengthwise of the gun,of a gear attached to said carrier, a rack engaging with said gear, a rack-bar connecting said ack with ,said lower carriage, an arc-formed standard secured to the said lower carriage or member in a position concentric with the trunnions of the gun. in one position of the latter, and a. slide connected with said rack-bar and fitted". to slide up and down on said standard, substantially as and for forth. I

7. The combination, with a breech-loading gun having a hinged swinging breech-block carrier, and a carriage for said gun, consisting of a lower training-carriage and an upper 1ongitudinally-moving carriage, of a gear attached to the hinge of said carrier and concentric therewith, a rackgearing with said gear, a bar carrying said rack, and a fric tional sleeve fitted to said bar and attached to the lower carriage to serve as a slidin' g connection between said rack and the lower carriage, substantially as herein set forth.

the purpose herein set tilated-screw breech-block fitted to turn therein, a spring-actuated locking-key for locking forth.

b. The combination, with a breech-loading gun, of a swinging breech-block carrier, a mu-- the said breech-block againstv turning in the carrier while out of the gun, and a camway inthe breech-seat, in contact with which the said key moves to withdraw the said keyfrom the breech-block to allowthe latter to he turned to lock itin the gun, substantially as herein set forth.

9. The combination, in a breech-loading cannon, with a hinged swinging breech-block carrier having acentral stem and a mutilated! screw hreechbloek turningon said stem, of a firing-pin composedof two straight portions, one passing through said stem and the other, passing outside of said stem and provided wit-ha projection, a trigger pivoted. to said stein and engaging with the outside portion of said pin, and a cam on the said' breechblock for-operating on the said projection for cooking the pin, substantially as herein set 10.' The combination, with the stern of the swinging breech-block carrier, of a forke d firing-pin, the firing-prong of which passes through and the other prong of which passes outside of said stein, a main'spring'for said firing-pin, and a trigger having a stirrup-like portion throu h which the last-mentioned prong of the 1 rin g-pin' passes,.and which constitutes the sear, substantially as herein described. v

SAMUEL SEABURY.

Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, L. M. EGBERT. 

